Queens Subway Tunnel To Close For A Week After Christmas: MTA

QUEENS, NY -- New Yorkers who count on the E and M trains to commute between Queens and Manhattan will have to alter their transit plans in the week after Christmas.

The MTA announced it will close a segment of the tunnel carrying the two lines under the East River for nearly a week of sweeping repairs. The closure between Queens Plaza and 50th Street-Eight Avenue stations will run from 5 a.m. on Dec. 26 to 8 a.m. on Dec. 31.

During that time, E trains will be rerouted and M trains won't run at all, the MTA said.

"This closure will allow us to perform critical maintenance that helps us improve subway reliability," an MTA spokeswoman said. "Both lines will be back in time for New Years Eve."

The shutdown is part of the Subway Action Plan, an $836 million overhaul of the city's subway system that came after Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared it in a state of emergency in July.

The MTA will use the five-day closure to send 500 workers onto the lines for signaling, track replacement and drainage projects. Much of that construction will focus on the 53rd Street tunnel connecting Queens and Manhattan, with four miles of cables slated to be installed to eventually allow the line to be updated with a modern signaling system.

The MTA chose the week between Christmas and New Years Eve to make the repairs because it is typically a low-ridership period, a spokesperson said. Around 398,000 riders usually use the subway during the week's morning rush, compared to the 713,800 that use it on a typical weekday morning, the New York Times reported.

During the repairs, the 5th Avenue 53rd Street station in Manhattan will be closed, but riders will still be able to catch other trains at E and M stations with other lines. The Queens Plaza will be closed during late nights, but free shuttle busses will be available to connect Court Square-23rd Street, 21st Street-Queens Bridge and Queens Plaza stations.

E trains will run on the F line between Roosevelt Avenue station in Queens and the West 4th Street station in Manhattan. They will run their normal route between West 4th Street and World Trade Center stations, except at nights. From 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., E trains will run along the F line between West 4th street and 2nd Avenue at Houston Street.

Riders looking to get to the JFK Airport from Manhattan can take the Queens-bound E train from any F station to the Sutphin Boulevard station - or a Rockaway-bound A train to the Howard Beach station - directly to the Jamaica AirTrain. To get to LaGuardia airport, riders can take a Queens-bound E or F train from any F station to the Roosevelt Avenue station to the LaGuardia Link airport bus.

While the M train won't run to or from Manhattan, the M shuttle between Metropolitan Avenue and Myrtle-Wycoff Avenue stations will operate normally, the MTA said.

Lead photo via Getty Images.